Details
An Attractive Diamond Single-stone Ring
The central pear-shaped diamond weighing 4.99 carats with circular-cut diamond shoulder detail to the plain hoop
Mount numbered 34956
For centuries, Golconda diamonds have been much in demand, for they possess magnificent transparency and luminosity - qualities which are not usually found in diamonds from other areas, even within India.
In his book "Voyage en Turque, en Perse et aux Indes" of 1679, in which he documents his search of wonderful diamonds, Jean Baptiste Tavernier remarks on the quality of the diamond from the Deccan region of India, and particularly those from the Golconda mines: "All the Orientals are very much of our taste in matters of whiteness and I have remarked that they prefer the whitest pearls and the whitest diamonds.
Golconda diamonds have a special whiteness about them which is often described as being "limpid" "watery" or "soft". These adjectives should not be confused with either the colour grade (such as 'D') or clarity grade; a Golconda diamond may not be the highest colour but can still possess the characterstic passage of light through the stone which gives it its soft appearance.
Many Golconda stones are still in their original old-cut forms which is particularly appropriate because not only do these cuts show the limpid transparency to its best advantage, but also because most were mined before the 1800s. Both lots 237 and 243 are old-cuts - the former being a pear-shaped, the latter a round. There is nothing pinched about the cuts (the pear is particularly generous), giving each a distinct character of its own
The central pear-shaped diamond weighing 4.99 carats with circular-cut diamond shoulder detail to the plain hoop
Mount numbered 34956
For centuries, Golconda diamonds have been much in demand, for they possess magnificent transparency and luminosity - qualities which are not usually found in diamonds from other areas, even within India.
In his book "Voyage en Turque, en Perse et aux Indes" of 1679, in which he documents his search of wonderful diamonds, Jean Baptiste Tavernier remarks on the quality of the diamond from the Deccan region of India, and particularly those from the Golconda mines: "All the Orientals are very much of our taste in matters of whiteness and I have remarked that they prefer the whitest pearls and the whitest diamonds.
Golconda diamonds have a special whiteness about them which is often described as being "limpid" "watery" or "soft". These adjectives should not be confused with either the colour grade (such as 'D') or clarity grade; a Golconda diamond may not be the highest colour but can still possess the characterstic passage of light through the stone which gives it its soft appearance.
Many Golconda stones are still in their original old-cut forms which is particularly appropriate because not only do these cuts show the limpid transparency to its best advantage, but also because most were mined before the 1800s. Both lots 237 and 243 are old-cuts - the former being a pear-shaped, the latter a round. There is nothing pinched about the cuts (the pear is particularly generous), giving each a distinct character of its own